


Determined Sunshine, Sword Soul, Flower Watered in Blood

by Jory0994



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 23:36:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16418201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jory0994/pseuds/Jory0994
Summary: Why on Eos would you trust a God that has already lied to you once, who knows what else they lie about?or, Prompto, Cor, and Iris are not having with your apocalypse, False God.





	Determined Sunshine, Sword Soul, Flower Watered in Blood

**Crown Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum**

 

Noctis was scared.

 

The train he was in derailed and every one was gone. All the guards had gone to fight the daemons, the screams had stopped but no one came. Then his Governess had tried to push him behind her and-

 

“Hey little buddy, it's okay. The Lady will be fine, that's what Phoenix Downs are for.”

 

Noctis looked up at the Kingsglaive that had saved them at the last minuet. The snake lady had almost grabbed him, after hurting Miss Deny, and the Glaive had warped out of nowhere. He had been with two others, who stayed behind to fight. He knew the uniform, but not the face, and he saved Miss Deny but...

 

The man also had claws. His hair was pure white, and his eyes didn't look right and..

 

“Why do you have fangs? Are you a daemon? Are you gonna steal Miss Deny and make her your bride? Cause she likes girls.”

 

He was cut off by a sad laugh, and when the man smiled at him, it was full of grief. Noctis took his hand, startling the Glaive, who gave an even sadder smile.

 

“No little King, daemons don't steal brides, stop listening to your Shield tell scary stories. He doesn't know much more about daemons than you.”

“How did you--? King? Is my Dad dead?” Noctis said fearfully.

“What? No! He's fine, I'm sorry, I forgot you're a Prince right now.

“What?!”

 

They were cut off by an explosion on the cliff above them. The Glaive had grabbed him, tossed him on top of Miss Deny, and warped them all down the cliff to a ledge. The Glaive was kind of...bad at warping. Miss Deny stirred as another explosion sounded, even closer now.

 

“Fuck dammit, Daemon Slayer. Come on Lady up, up, up, no one wants to be daemon chow. Prince Noctis is fine, he's right there, now _move_.”

“Sir Glaive we need to--”

 

She was interrupted by the Glaive yanking her forward, out of the path of a boulder that took a good chunk of the ledge with it. The Glaive frowned and turned to Noctis, kneeling in front of him. He pulled out a small case and handed it to him. It was a camera case.

 

“Can you put that in your Armiger, Your Highness? It needs to get to your father, just him, just the King. The Realm depends on it.”

 

Wide eyed Noctis nodded and did so, right in time for the Glaive to toss Miss Deny over his shoulder, and scoop him up in the other arm. With a shriek from both of them the Glaive jumped from the ledge, right as the rest of it collapsed. Somehow they ended up on the top of the other side of the cliff, but Noctis was two queasy to tell how.

 

The Glaive had set them down, pulled out a rifle from the Armiger, and turned to take pot shots at the snake lady that had a Crownsguard pinned against the edge of the cliff. From above there was a battle cry and a different Crownsguard fell from somewhere high up driving a sword through the back of its head. With a thrash, that knocked most of the train into the gorge, it finally died.

 

Turning back at Miss Denys' gasp he was startled to see the Glaive was falling apart into crystals,like when warping, but slowly. As he watched the Glaive bowed to him, like they're meant to bow to the King, not him. Then he was gone.

 

“Your Highness, we need to go.”

 

Before they could start moving they heard shouting. More and more Guards and Glaives were rushing to the remains of the train. There was a great outcry when they were spotted, and with a shatter of magic, his Dad was there. He was immediately grabbed into a hug.

 

“Dad!”

“Noctis, oh thank the Six, you're alright. How did you get over here? No, that can wait until we are inside.”

 

It took an hour for them to get back to the Citadel, and Noctis was fighting sleep. Miss Deny was sedated in medical, as she hadn't taken the fact that she had needed a Phoenix Down well. When it was finally just him, his dad and Clarus, Noctis pulled the case out.

 

“....after he gave me this, he grabbed us both and jumped off the cliff. I don't know how we got over there, he was terrible at warping.”

“And you didn't recognize the rifle? I can't think of any Glaives that use guns, and they aren't common in the Guard.”

“No, but it looked a lot like the ones in the Nif armory.” That got a sigh.

“Cor isn't meant to let you in there. Did you notice anything else strange, besides his looks?”

“....he said he forgot I was still a Prince, and he bowed to me like I was already King. Oh! And his magic was red not blue.” Noctis yawned.

 

He was shuffled of to bed, his dad staying until he fell asleep.

 

 

**King Regis Lucis Caelum**

 

 

Regis sighed wearily as his son slipped into sleep. Patting the Carbuncle figurine on the side table with a whispered prayer, he shuffled into his office,Clarus closing the door behind him. He took a few minuets, after sinking into his chair, to let himself breath. Noctis was fine. His son was safe. There were traitors in Insomnia, it was the only way daemons could have gotten this close. He sat up.

 

“Clarus I-- no first, what was in that case.” Clarus looked at him as he sat a small shot glass in front of him.

 

“Drink that first, you're still shaking.” He sighed and did, he knew Clarus could out stubborn him about his health.

“Flash drives.”

“What?”

“It's full of flash drives, do we have a computer that isn't on a network?”

 

They ended up in Clarus'' office. The drives were conveniently numbered, 1-100. Plugging in the first it popped up a password screen. After a stumped moment, Clarus scrolled over the hint button.

 

_The Lion was hired by Death when?_

 

“Does it mean Cor?” Regis asked, reaching for his personnel computer, to look it up.

“I guess, but why does a random Glaive know that?”

“It wasn't a Glaive, Clarus. Nothing will change the color of Lucis Caelum magic.

 

Typing in the number, after pausing to stare at the listed age, Regis was startled to find a massive amount of files. With a quick look at the data, he grew even more confused, there were no flash drives that could carry this much on the market.

 

“They're color coded. Four colors, red, pink, blue and yellow. There are four hundred of these, what's on them? Why are you taking that off?”

“I don't know yet, but there's a Read First folder. It's a letter from Cor, he wants me to take off the Ring before I....read...it.” Regis stopped talking and paled as he read the letter. It was full of conformation codes and assurances that the information given to them was accurate, to the best of his knowledge, and that he was staking the lives of two kings on it.

 

“....and so Your Majesty, I, Cor Leonis, in my capacity as the last Marshal of the Crownsguard, do hereby inform you of the dissolution of Lucis and the human race. As of now Iris Amiticia, Shield of the Sage, Prompto Argentum, Captain of the Kingsglaive and I, are the last humans remaining. Time travel is risky and we don't know if this will work, but either way we will be with you soon. Good Bye.

P.S. I really hope this works, Reggie.”

 

Their was silence in the office as Regis stared at the computer. Clarus had looked at him like he grew a second head at first, but when he mentioned Iris, he had came around to read over his shoulder.

 

“Well Fuck. What a time for Cor to be out of the city. I really wish he was the type to do this as a prank, but he would never do that to Noctis.”

“Me too. Iris is three and now I find out she was literally the last woman alive. And who the Hell is the Sage?”

“I don't know, but Argentum sounds familiar.”

“It's the name of the couple that adopted that kid Cor brought back.”

“Oh, right. Kingsglaive Captain huh? Guess he was worth the risk.”

“Yeah, should we look at the rest of this tonight?”

“It's in order by date, maybe just the next weeks?”

 

They did start to look at the reports, now known to be recovered after the Fall of Insomnia, but seconds latter Regis was on his knees over the waste basket. They had changed how today had gone. Noctis should be in a _coma_.

 

He was crying into Clarus' shoulder when he came back to reality. Taking the time to even out his breathing, Regis pulled up every bit of comportment training he had ever received and went back to the files. Cor always wrote summaries. Clarus pulled his chair around, recognizing the look, they weren't going to bed anytime soon.

 

“Of course there's an index, it's Cor. If he wasn't so fond of swords, he'd be a librarian.”

“Is that one just labeled 'traitors'?”

“Yes.....I'm glad this tells us where we can find proof, most of the Council is on here.”

“So is Drautos, to bad Argentum's to young.”

“Clarus, you can't give command of the Kingsglaive to a eight year old.”

“No, but Cor trusted him, and he's never liked Drautos, so he's got better judgment than me.”

“I didn't notice anything either and he's connected to my magic, Clarus.”

“Still.”

 

“These assholes have been rejecting petitions _in my name_?!”

“Fuck, how exactly are your Glaives paying for living expenses?”

“Is the price of treason still hanging?”

 

“Oh.”

“Regis?”

“Cor found it. He found what killed Aulea.”

“What? The doctors-”

“Are listed under traitors.” Regis snarled, magic shivering in the air.

 

They had to stop for the night after that, Regis didn't think his heart could take it. Why was his son meant to sacrifice himself for these selfish bastards? With a sigh Regis paused before he put the Ring back on. He had almost put it on automatically. He pocketed it instead, he hadn't found why Cor didn't want him to wear it, but he trusted him.

 

The next morning was very fun, what with Iris waking up screaming about giant snakes and Cor calling him at four in the morning, half convinced Regis was dead. When Clarus showed up with Gladio and Iris, a small chubby blond bobbing in his wake, Regis wasn't even surprised. It was going to be one of those days, he thought, staring down at the blond that had done the Kingsglaive salute when he spotted the King.

 

“At ease, Sir Argentum. What do you remember?” Regis had crouched down as he spoke, hoping to put him more at ease, he looked to be calm by sheer force of will. With a determined expression, Argentum asked,

 

“Is Noct okay? I know we came back to help him, but I don't know why.” Regis blinked.

“Noctis is fine, thanks to you. He would have ended up very hurt if not for your timely arrival. You sound like you knew him well?”

 

Argentum's eyes went distant and his brow furrowed, he snapped out of it when Iris determinedly glomped onto his leg.

 

“Prom is one of the tree brovers!” Iris tried to say clearly, but she was missing too many teeth.

Prompto patted her on the head and asked,

“Whats that mean, Daemon Slayer?”

“I dunno” and sat down and started playing with his shoes.

 

“Why do you call her that?” Gladio asked from beside his father, where he had been listening in confusion. He was confused by the kid his sister was attached to and what he had to do with her nightmare this morning. Why had he hugged Gladio? And the King said that he saved Noctis? Prompto turned to him and said with a grin.

 

“My clearest memory of Iris is her riding an Iron Giant and steering it to crush a literal army of smaller daemons. She definitely won your competition for scariest Amiticia”

 

Gladio stared at him then turned to stare at Iris, like the King and his dad already were. Iris was currently trying to tie Promptos' shoes together, she certainly didn't look like someone who could ride Daemons.

 

“Iris, my shoes are Velcro.”

“Frog. In. My. Hair.”

“Last of the curry.”

“My. Ice cream.

“Glitter.”

“GREEN.”

“That was Cor.”

“Team?”

 

Watching the two bicker Regis turned to Clarus and Gladio. Gladio recognizing the look wandered closer to the now plotting duo.

 

“Did they just agree to team up to prank Cor?” Clarus sighed, having been with them in the car on the way here.

“Yes. On the ride over I think Argentum agreed to help Iris steal his motorcycle.”

“Hopefully not before they learn to drive.”

 

Before they could continue there was an urgent rap at the door, it opened before they could answer. Cor came through looking as calm as always, unless you knew him, then you could see the tension and the slightly wider eyes. Regis was less surprised than he could be when Cor hugged them both.

 

Cor was then tackled by two small missiles masquerading as children. Gladio decided to join the pile on the floor, causing Cor to grunt from the bottom.

 

After managing to untangle themselves, the adults had a quick but heated discussion about whether or not to tell Noctis what was going on. Cor won, when he pointed out that ignorance hadn't helped last time. Regis did demand that they go over everything first as some things no eight year old needed to know, and sent Gladio on to lessons. Cor was about to start his debrief but stopped and turned to Prompto and asked resignedly,

 

“Argentum, do your parents know were you are?”

“No, I don't know the number for the hotel in Galdin Quay.”

“How long have they been gone?”

“What's the date?”

“Never mind.”

 

Cor turned back to Regis,

 

“So I'm going to have to arrest his parents for treason. They were told to watch him not leave him to do what ever the hell he wanted. Don't get me wrong, he's loyal, but if he had been a trap it would have worked.”

“Cor, you are going to need to arrest half of my government for treason, what's two more.”

“Half?”

“How much do you remember?”

“For the next twelve or so years, practically nothing. But I have ten years of experience in living in the Eternal Night and another seven of the world dying.” Cors' grin was slightly manic, before he shook himself.

 

“It happened then? The Prophecy?” Regis voice was sad. He was confused when Cor glanced at his hands.

 

“Where's the Ring?”

“Your letter said not to wear it while I read the letter but didn't say why, so I haven't put it back on.”

“Good.” he said “The red flash drives have instructions in them, to keep the Lucii out of your mind. You're going to need it, if you want to save Noctis.”

 

Regis stared at him, stunned. Save Noctis? He thought--

 

“Save him? Did you not come back because he died before doing it?”

“Fuck the Prophecy, it's fake.” Cor glared.

“What?”

 

Cor looked away, grief making him look older than he was, he focused on Iris and Prompto who seemed to be trying to waltz. He didn't seem to be able to speak for a moment. Getting him self under control he continued. His eyes when he turned back to Regis, burned.

 

“The Prophecy was never about the scourge, It was about the Crystal. It is the Heart of Eos, and when it is altered enough, say by human souls entering it, it can be consumed. The souls have to enter willingly, with full knowledge of what they are doing. They don't have to know why. That's why they gave it to Ardyn, who had offered _anything_ for the ability to save his people.”

 

Cor stopped to take a deep breath. Regis was in shock, if literally anyone was telling him this besides Cor, he would think it a cruel joke. But it as Cor, so that meant Regis had to face the fact that his entire Line had been used and not for something they had agreed to. Clarus spoke up.

 

“Wait who's Ardyn?”

“An asshole. I'll get there in a minute. Bahamut altered his natural magic to let him absorb the Starscourge, and when he had the entirety of the scourge beneath his skin, turned his people on him. He was the First King you see, but Somnus, had been groomed by Bahamut to see his brother as a tool. So when the Crystal rejected him, he declared his brother a daemon in human skin and had him crucified.”

 

Iris and Prompto had wandered back over and crawled up on the couch next to Cor, Prompto giving Iris a boost.

 

“Gigmesh is bad Shield, Daddy. No be family.” Iris said firmly, if a little garbled.

“Who? We don't have any relatives.” Clarus asked confusedly.

“Gilgamesh Amiticia was the first Shield of the Sage, and the second to drive a nail to the cross.” Prompto said softly, then looked confused. “How do I know that?”

 

Cor set a hand on his head.

“We need to find out how much they remember. Most of this will hold, but the kids and cleaning up Lucis need to happen first.”

“You are right. Sir Argentum, what do you remember.?

 

Prompto frowned in thought, before describing how he only remembered snippets when someone spoke, of knowing how to do things he shouldn't be able to. He had woken up early that morning knowing how to get to the Amiticia house, but not why he needed to be there. He had hugged Gladio, sure that he was dead, then been confused about his name. He knew to check the room for danger when walking in but couldn't tell you what he was looking for.

 

Iris seemed to remember even less, mostly about people she had spoken to, and got upset when her toddler brain couldn't process what she was remembering. Cor sighed and ran a hand over his face, then knelt in front of the kids, who suddenly looked too solemn.

 

“The two of you are too young to help with this. We weren't supposed to remember, but I promise, I will do everything I can to make sure it turns out better. Will you two let me do this without you?”

“They're going to help right? You won't do this alone?” Prompto asked knowingly.

“Yes they are going to help, Prompto, even I know this is too big for one man.”

 

Prompto and Iris gave each other a look as they thought. It was very surreal, to watch an eight year old and a three year old, look so serious. It would be funny if the situation was any less dire. Finally turning back to Cor both children gave a nod.

 

 

 

**Prompto Argentum**

 

Prompto was nervous, he wasn't really sure what was going on. He had woken up sobbing this morning, heartbroken by something he didn't remember. But then he was also remembering things that didn't happen. Not a lot, but he remembered fighting against daemons, MTs, and other humans. He  remembered Insomnia in ruins, comforting his three friends. He remembered  _ having friends _ .

 

He had gotten dressed and ran out the door before he knew what he was doing, sure that he was needed. He had got most of the way across town before he realized where he was going. He pushed on, knowing somehow that the woman in his new memories was important, determined for reasons he couldn't voice.

 

Luckily Iris recognized him, when they waked out the door, or he could have been in a lot of trouble. He didn't want to think about how he had embarrassed himself by breaking into tears. Iris was three, she could get away with it. He probably weirded Gladio out by hugging him, and he wasn't actually sure why he had.

 

Lord Clarus had been strangely accepting of his babble about things he couldn't know, but then Cor showed up and he knew they were fine. He knew Cor would take care of the rest of the mission, what ever it was. It was probably really bad, time travel was kind of...extreme.

 

His attempt to distract himself failed, when they arrive at a door and announced to Prince Noctis that his father was here to see him. He was going to meet his King again. Why was he calling Prince Noctis a King? Jerked out of his thoughts by a gasp, he turned to Prince Noctis.

 

“He really was a time traveler? He called me king, and he knew Gladio likes to tell me scary stories about daemons!”

“Yes Noctis, Sir Argentum was a time traveler, but the current version doesn't remember much. The other two people with him were Cor and Iris, Iris remembers even less but Cor will help us sort everything out, okay?”

“Iris?”

“Well, she grows up terrifying apparently.”

 

Prompto was then brought forward, The look on Noctis face was funny, despite Promptos' nerves making a resurgence. He took it well enough, exited about getting to meet a real time traveler. Then he was introduced to Ignis and blurted the first thing that came to mind'

 

“You can see!”

“Well of course I can.” Ignis blinked, taken aback. Before he could say anything, Cor set a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Prompto, that didn't happen until you were all adults, and it won't happen again. Now all of you need to stay in these rooms today, we are going to be very busy. Do you remember what to do under lock down?”

 

After they had left, assured that the kids knew not to go anywhere without the right code words, Prompto was suddenly the center of attention.

 

 

**Clarus Amiticia, Shield of the King.**

 

 

If anyone thought that attacking Noctis would make Regis back down, they were mistaken. The months after the attack were full of chaos, and the largest scandal to hit Lucis since the time of the Salacious. Between finding current proof, arresting a large chunk of the council, and replacing the Captain of the Kingsglaive, all while fighting a war, Clarus was ready to tear out his remaining hair.

 

The proof was easy enough to find, with how arrogant the council had grown, but actually arresting them was a hassle. More of them had tried to fight than he thought would, leading to the already vetted Crownsguard, to find evidence of their other crimes. You think you know a person. 

 

“Oh gods, Vishkra had literal torture dungeon, there's evidence that at least twelve people didn't leave it alive.”

“They found child pornography on Slincers' computer. His work computer even.”

 

Regis trying to learn weird magic tricks was at least amusing, though he could do without having to explain the soot marks to the maids. He had quickly manged to learn the mental shielding, leading to finding all one hundred of the red flash drives were magic lessons.

 

“They're for Noctis actually, but you need to know a lot of this.”

“Cor where did you get these? There's more about magic here than in the Royal Library.”

“Well being two thousand years old give you a lot of time to experiment, especially if you don't have to worry about a lethal accident.”

 

Regis looked ill when he remembered Cors' account of literally not being able to die. He had also had a hard time imagining that happening to his daughter. Bahamut had a lot to answer for.

 

The news outlets had gone berserk trying to keep up with all the news coming out of the Citadel. Cor breaking part of the outer walls of the Citadel, trying to arrest Glauca, had actually caused the crash of several social media sites. Most of the Glaives had tried to help Cor, despite the shock, but they weren't good enough. There were thankfully few fatalities.

 

“I'm surprised you left him alive, Cor.”

“I want answers.”

 

Glaucas' arrest had actually sparked a second assassination attempt on Noctis. Some how that led to Noctis giving Ignis, Gladio, Prompto and Iris magic, and Argentum teaching them how to warp. Prompto and Iris pushed an assassin out a window. Ignis set one on fire, without magic, and stabbed him with a cooking knife. Noctis and Gladio had managed to get one to confess who hired them. Where had Argentum got that gun? He kept forgetting to ask.

 

“Why is our information gathering so unsuccessful? Because the Head of Intelligence is a traitor. Are you sure we can't have them executed, Sire?”

“They need to be interrogated first.”

 

Things had eventually calmed down, and he was only a little exasperated when Cor admitted to using the chaos to slide something passed the paparazzi.

 

“What did you do? You don't usually bother to dodge them when you an just ignore them instead.” Regis asked from where he was flipping through the eighth magic file.

“Took custody of Prompto. His 'parents' still haven't came back, despite him making the news.”

 

Cor had a look on his face like he'd like to hunt the Argentums down.

 

“Is that why I have an application for the Kingsglaive from a Prompto Leonis?” Clarus asked, holding up the form.

“He's pretty dead set on getting his job back.”

“He's eight.”

“Gladio's been training since he was six. And Prompto knows he won't get missions or any thing until he's of age, but the training resources would be useful.”

“I'll allow it on the condition that he finishes high school before missions.” Regis said, straitening up.

 

“Yes, Your Majesty” they said at the same time. Clarus stamped the folder and set it aside.

“Cor were you aware that there is a breakdown of the Wall schematics in here?”

“No, but I'm not surprised. Ardyn likes knowing things he shouldn't.”

“I have got to meet this man.”

“Not until I manage to talk to him, please. He still thinks the Prophecy will let him die.”

“Ah. Well the schematics are improved, it will take a while but I should be able to alter it so it won't drain me as much. There are mentions of being able to expand it again in latter chapters.”

“It will probably work, when the Sage puts his mind to something it gets done.”

“And now we want to turn his mind to killing the King of Gods.”

 


End file.
